Small business offers opportunities for success to anyone and everyone. No guarantees exits, and risks cannot be completely eliminated. Nevertheless, in addition to offering opportunities to those with the entrepreneurial spirit, small businesses have added vitality to the economy. An increased emphasis on quality products and services, and the need to adapt quickly to changes in the marketplace, have given small businesses the edge in today's competitive business environment. Seminar Objectives: To increase awareness of entrepreneurship as a viable career; to provide a step-by-step method for planning and managing a small business. Participants will examine the challenges, obstacles, risks and rewards of small business ownership.

Back to the top

A well-researched business plan is a critical component for creating a new business venture or introducing a new project or initiative in your organization. It is your portable document which forms the blueprint for your business. When seeking acceptance and commitment from financiers, stakeholders and decision-makers, it is a powerful tool for "selling" your idea and demonstrating your direction over time. Seminar Objectives: To provide a step-by-step process for putting information into a comprehensive business plan; to analyze how the document serves as a road map that clearly establishes direction, as a reference for measuring progress over time and is a tool for obtaining financing and/or capital for the business venture.

Back to the top

In today's ever-changing business environment, leaders must use visionary thinking to develop appropriate goals and strategies for their companies. They must examine how their organizational processes and human resources can work together with a unified focus to guarantee responsiveness in a competitive global environment. Innovative and proactive planning must achieve close coordination throughout the organization in order to retain a sustainable competitive advantage. Seminar Objectives: To examine concepts and analytical skills required to diagnose today's competitive business environment. Participants will learn how to determine and coordinate corporate, divisional and departmental action plans that focus on the vision, and how to build in the flexibility needed to remain adaptable and responsive on demand.

Back to the top

Are you managing your job or is it managing you? Are you doing more now than ever, and enjoying it less? Time, our most valuable resource, is very personal, and the way we elect to spend our time determines the quality of our lives. Too many of us compromise our creativity and freedom in favour of daily routines and demands. In this fast-paced environment, there is an urgent need for time management skills for people who must structure their time and be self-motivated. It's time to get started! Seminar Objectives: To present a framework of management principles for clarifying priorities and developing objectives for high pay-off results. Participants will learn how to apply the principles to their personal situations at work, at home and at leisure, and how to commit them to habit; to overcome the stress of reacting to paperwork, telephone habits and interruptions; and how to increase their effectiveness towards a balanced lifestyle.

Back to the top

Organizations today must constantly change to remain competitive, and this has placed incredible pressure on them to adapt quickly. Employees are being told to become more efficient, creative and accountable, the impact of which has brought uncertainty and higher levels of stress to the workplace. In order to survive and thrive, organizations and employees must remain flexible and responsive, and must develop interdependent strategies, attitudes and skills to embrace and master change. Seminar Objectives: To provide a framework for understanding the impact of change, for managing stress and capitalizing on it as a motivator for creativity, self-sufficiency, accountability and growth. Participants will learn ways to establish collaborative working methods that will energize employees, and to develop tools for successfully managing the vision and commitment to change.

Back to the top

Strategic planning means systematically adapting to today's changing economic and competitive environment. Today's business leaders must develop a planning process that is both focused and flexible, that sustains a competitive advantage, while aligning with the organization's mission and meeting the changing needs of the marketplace. Seminar Objectives: To explore current issues in strategic planning; to provide concepts and analytical skills needed to diagnose and respond to today's changing business situation. Participants will learn to align vision and goals, to coordinate goals throughout the organization, monitor and evaluate progress, build in flexibility and rapid response capabilities, and to maximize their effectiveness in staying competitive.

Back to the top

Succession planning is becoming increasingly important and more difficult because of rapidly changing demands on managers in growing, evolving organizations. Grooming new managers has become a specific, evaluation-based process, in which criteria for assessing candidates and developing customized training are linked to expectations of future organizational changes and managerial staffing requirements. Seminar Objectives: To examine the succession planning process, and current practices in defining managerial position requirements. Participants will discuss techniques for identifying and assessing management candidates, and activities that are necessary for effective development of managerial talent in an organization.

Back to the top